Here’s why this would rock: How many times have you had to do something like resize three photos to a particular size, and since you’re only resizing three of them this one time, it doesn’t make sense to go write an Action for them because by the time you actually wrote the action, you could have already been done with the resizing manually. Short, repetitive stuff like that happens all the time during our work, and the only way to do them is just to sit there and down them — one at a time.

Worse yet, what if it’s two steps to four photos? Like resize to 610 pixels wide and apply an Unsharp Mask. Ugh!

So imagine if you could resize a photo, and then just press a keyboard shortcut to apply that exact same resize to the next photo? Or if you could add a Modifier key (like the Alt key) and now it applies your last two steps? (Resize and Unsharp Mask) Add another modifier (like Shift) and it applies your last THREE steps! (Resize, Unsharp Mask and Crop!). All three moves — just one shortcut. Sweet!

Imagine how that would boost your productivity day in and day out (but of course, like any Photoshop feature, some folks would never use it at all). Anyway, that’s the one simple feature I would love to see added to the next version of Photoshop (I’ve been wanting this one for years!).

Hi gang: I thought I’d do a quick video (above) for you all here on the blog that takes you through the step-by-step process of setting up a wireless remote camera — ideal for sports, for weddings, or anywhere where you can’t get a camera, or can’t be at two places at once.

If you have any questions that I didn’t cover in the short video above, just post ‘em here and I’ll do my best to answer them, once I’m awake and have a cup of coffee or three. Cheers, and hope you have a great kick-off to your week.

You’ve got to watch the video above — it explains the whole thing, but I’ve got to tell you — we are incredibly excited about this. We put a lot of work into making something really unique and really special, but it’s only for 20 very cool, very lucky photographers, and I hope you’re one of them. I hope you can join me (and Scott — watch the video) for one of the coolest workshops ever! I am not kidding! :)

P.S.Scott and I will be answering your questions here on the blog, but give me a chance to wake up and at least have a cup of coffee or two! ;-) This is going to be (wait for it….wait for it….) edit. No, epic!

Blind Critiques with Zack Arias on The Grid On yesterday’s episode of The Grid, Scott was joined by Zack Arias for a special episode of blind critiques (special because we just did blind critiques last week, and because Zack had some great insight for viewers)! If you missed the live airing, you can watch the video above, and head over to KelbyTV.com to leave comments (the episode will be posted there later today) and enter for your chance to win one of the prizes.

Stay Where The Instructors Stay at Photoshop World If you’re coming to Photoshop World Orlando from April 17-19, make sure you book your room at the Rosen Centre Hotel and stay where the instructors stay! Ride the elevators with author and entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki, bump into WPPI Director Jason Groupp in the lobby, high five former Disney illustrator Aaron Blaise as you’re checking in, and slip a fiver to the concierge and see if they’ll “accidentally” give you Photoshop Guy Pete Collins’ room key (okay, don’t really do that).

Seriously though, don’t wait for long to book your stay, because once rooms at the hotel that’s most conveniently located to the convention center are gone, they’re gone!

Kelby Training LiveWant to spend a day with Matt Kloskowski, RC Concepcion, or Ben Willmore? Check out these seminar tours!

What Feature Does Scott Want Added To Photoshop? Check out this episode of the Photofocus Podcast where Scott Kelby joins Scott Bourne and Richard Harrington to talk about what he’d like to see added to Photoshop, how to pass the Adobe Certified Expert exam, the newest toys and gear Scott’s digging, and more!

We came to Norway chasing the night light. Laura and I have been planning this trip for months. This was more than an assignment, this was a quest. We wanted to make a time-lapse video showing the Aurora Borealis–the Northern Lights.

We thought the light we sought would be green and dancing, and there was some of that. Mystical, almost spiritual waifs.

There is science behind the swirling bands of green. During large solar explosions huge quantities of particles are thrown from the surface of the sun into deep space. When the particles hit the Earth’s magnetic field they are drawn to an area around the magnetic North Pole creating the celestial green streaks of light.

But the real beauty to me was watching the bright full moon travel across the sky illuminating the mountains and fjords.

The night sky above the arctic circle is different. Rich and blue. Dark clouds racing across the night. Peaceful, tranquil, calm, and then the next minute massive amounts of snow and wind pelting us and the gear.

In Northern Norway this time of year the nights are long and the days are short. The sun is up for at most 4 hours a day, but you can only see it shining brightly for 10-15 minutes, if you’re lucky. It’s always night.

We had this well sorted out. We are on the road most years around 300 days and so we are fairly well organized, and certainly accustomed to packing for all kinds of contingencies. But seldom have we had to be concerned with keeping cameras and fingers warm enough to work in temperatures that can quickly drop to 20 below. Did I mention that we are from Florida?

We brought 5 tripods, 7 Nikon bodies, 9 lenses and a bunch of hand warmers. 6 extra batteries per camera. Rain covers to protect the bodies and lenses against the blowing snow. We learned after the first day that snow storms come quickly, sometimes when you are least expecting it.

The bag guys at Kata made some special cold weather pouches for us to protect bodes and more importantly batteries–I’m not sure if the bags made the difference or if the Nikon batteries just function perfectly in the temperatures, but I do know this: we didn’t have any issues with camera power. Even during 5 hour time-lapse captures.

Our buddy Andy Hancock was with us. Being a Texan he always does things a little, different, than we do. We were making most of our exposures for between 2 and 4 seconds, at f 2.8, ISO 1600. Andy decided to try 30 seconds, at f 16, ISO 1600. His images resonated with me–they had a blurred feeling that just worked. Since we had so many cameras running we had plenty of room, and time to experiment. We switched two of ours to 20 and 30 second exposures and loved the results for the time-lapse. As independent still images they are too soft for my use.

We fought the weather the first few nights. Dense clouds dropping heavy snow made it very tough to see the green lights we came to find.

It would have been easy to be frustrated and depressed. It’s not easy to get to Tromso–we traveled for almost 24 hours, and we had been planning this shoot for months. But it didn’t go that way. The calm, serene beauty and the light from the moon was enchanting. We had the best time, and made gorgeous images.

It’s what makes this job so difficult and so rewarding at the same time. When you are dependent on mother nature to produce, you are subject to her whims. It just reinforces what I have always said, you never know when the muse will strike, and when the stars will align to produce the best images in the toughest conditions.

The new issue of “Light It” magazine is here! We publish a magazine for the iPad for people into hot shoe flash and/or studio lighting and the latest issue is now available for download from the App Store (that’s the cover above, with a cover shot by yours truly — it’s from my regular column called “Lighting Recipes” where I show the final image, and then the behind-the-scenes images, camera set-up, lighting set-up and the whole ball of wax so you can not only see how it’s done, you can do it yourself. Lots of awesome stuff in this issue, so I hope you’ll check it out.

Stay with me at the Rosen Centre Hotel If you’re joining us in Orlando in April for the Photoshop World Conference & Expo, stay where me and all the instructors are staying — the Rosen Centre Hotel (a very nice hotel right directly across the street from the convention center). They’ve got a special room rate just for our convention attendees ((rooms are only $159 per night + tax if you grab one now), but when those rooms are gone… they’re gone… so if you want to stay with me at the Rosen, here’s the link with the discount codes and all that stuff.

“5 Incredible Online Communities to Get Genuine Feedback on Your Photography” list A big shout-out to the LightStalking blog (and Tiffany Mueller) for giving our free weekly show for photographers “The Grid” some love about our monthly “Blind Photo Critiques” episodes by including us in their list of ““5 Incredible Online Communities to Get Genuine Feedback on Your Photography.” By the way, we had a great episode this past week with Wedding photographer Cliff Mautner as our in-studio guest. If you’ve got a sec — here’s the link to LightStalking’s full list of 5 incredible online communities for genuine feedback. (our humble thanks to LightStalking.com for including us. We were pretty psyched when we saw our name on that list!).

Lastly, check out our “Seven Conferences in One” concept for this year’s Photoshop World (above). It’s an exciting new concept for us, and people are totally digging it (the short video above explains it). I don’t want to spoil it, so just watch the really short video where I explain it.

Oh yeah, more one thing I have a cool announcement set for Thursday here on the blog that I hope will only marginally interrupt our regularly scheduled “Free Stuff Thursday.” We’re doing something I haven’t seen anyone do —- ever (I gotta tell ya — it’s not for everybody, but the people that go “Oh man — that is for me!” are going to lose their minds!) so make sure you mark on your calendars to check back with me here on Thursday. PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE: Ken Toney, don’t send me a private email asking me to tell you what the secret is — it’s “too secret” even for you! LOL!

Have a great Tuesday and we’ll see you back here tomorrow when a sports photography legend takes over for Guest Blog Wednesday. Cheers! -Scott